Breaking News: Jharkhand Cabinet Secretary shoots off letter to ED, seeks info on summons to Sahibganj DC  

SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA

Ranchi, January 11: Jharkhand Cabinet Secretary Vandana Dadel is understood to have written a letter to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking information about the cases in which Sahibganj Deputy Commissioner Ram Niwas Yadav has been summoned.

According to sources, in her letter, she said it was unclear about the FIR in which the DC and CM’s press advisor, Abhishek Prasad alias Pintu, were summoned.

The Cabinet Secretary Vandana Dadel when contacted confirmed writing a letter to ED in this regard but refused to elaborate it any further.

Notably, the DGP, sometime back, had written a similar letter to the ED when the central agency summoned two DSPs, Pramod Mishra and Rajendra Dubey, posted in Sahibganj in the illegal mining case.

The ED, probing the Rs 1250 crore illegal mining scam in Sahibganj, had raided DC Ram Niwas Yadav’s premises and recovered Rs 7.25 lakh and 19 cartridges of .9 mm bore.

Jharkhand Cabinet decision on summons

To make the ED’s job difficult further, the State cabinet, on January 9, approved guidelines for government officials to comply with the summons/notices received from the investigating agencies outside the State (read ED/CBI).

According to the new rule, the officials summoned by any investigating agency outside the state will first inform the cabinet coordination department, which is the nodal department. After that, the cabinet department will take legal opinion, issue necessary guidelines, and give advice to comply with the summons. It will be decided on a case-to-case basis.